Bonneville, Rigby, Pocatello ousted from tourney; Idaho Falls, Madison to play in semis
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IDAHO FALLS — Pocatello and Lakeland treated the crowd to everything one could expect from a one-two matchup. There were long rallies, thunderous spikes, stifling blocks and awe-inspiring digs.
Unfortunately for the Thunder and their fans, there weren’t many Pocatello wins, as the Hawks eliminated Pocatello in the final match at the Mountain America Center Friday night. Bonneville and Rigby were also eliminated earlier in the evening.
Pocatello came is as the No. 2 seed, and knocked off Wood River to open its tourney run Thursday. Lakeland, the No. 1 seed, lost its tourney-opener to No. 8 Twin Falls.
And after the Thunder suffered its first loss to Idaho Falls Friday morning, and the Hawks topped Middleton, the top two seeds in the 5A tourney were matched up much earlier than many would have expected.
Lakeland jumped out to an early lead, scoring the match’s first four points.
The Thunder put together mini rallies but never could climb all the way back and dropped the first set, 25-17.
An early Lakeland lead again in the second did not sink Pocatello, who rallied back again, behind the play of senior Jakobi Nebeker.
Nebeker has been one half of the Thunder’s one-two offensive attack all season, joining junior Abby Lusk. During Pocatello’s first two matches this weekend, though, she had not been as efficient as her team has come to expect.
Against Lakeland, she found that efficiency, especially in the second set where she tallied seven kills.
The Thunder took the second set, 25-23, to even the match.
The third set saw a relentless and evenly distributed attack, as Nebeker and Lusk did their best to keep the Thunder offense rolling.
Poky’s dynamic duo combined for eight kills in the third set alone. But the Hawks’ three-headed attack of Alyssa Ryckman, Landree Simon and Ziya Munyer were too much for the Thunder as Lakeland took the third set, 25-19.
Pocatello scrapped and battled, and got huge late contributions from Katie Matulis, but the depth of the 5A division’s top-ranked team proved too much as the Hawks ended Pocatello’s season with a 25-20 fourth-set victory.
Munyer led the way for Lakeland, finishing the match with 20 kills, four blocks and two service aces. Simon chipped in 15 kills and Ryckman added 10 kills.
Lusk gave the Thunder 17 kills, and Nebeker tallied 13 kills and one block.
Owyhee eliminates Rigby, 3-0
Rigby pulled off the rare reverse-sweep — losing the first two sets and winning the final three — to stay alive Friday morning. But Owyhee did allowed that door to even be opened.
As they did against Eagle, the Trojans clawed their way back into set three. But the Storm nipped that in the bud locking down the sweep with a 25-23 set win.
Wood River eliminates Bonneville, 3-1
The Bees, who lost to Twin Falls in the late afternoon session, stayed on the court for the evening match and were dropped by Wood River.
Bonneville took the third set, 25-14, after losing the first two, 25-18 and 25-16, and forced extra points in the fourth. But the Wolverines had just enough to prevent a fifth set, taking the fourth, 26-24.
Saturday
With their losses, Bonneville, Pocatello and Rigby have all be eliminated.
That means, District 5-6 has just two survivors between the 6A and 5A tournaments.
Idaho Falls is the lone 5A representative, having scored wins over Columbia and Pocatello. The Tigers will be back on the court at 11 a.m. Saturday, to take on the 5A tourney’s Cinderella, Twin Falls. The No. 8 seed followed its upset of Lakeland with a victory over Bonneville Friday.
The winner of the match will go directly to the finals, where they will need to lose twice to be knocked out. The loser will face the winner of the morning session’s Wood River-Lakeland showdown.
In 6A, No. 2 Madison remains unbeaten, with wins over Rocky Mountain and Owyhee.
The Bobcats will face No. 1 Skyview at 11 a.m. with the same potential outcomes facing Idaho Falls and Twin Falls.
Whip around
Bear Lake remains alive and unbeaten in the 4A tourney being played at Lake City High School.
The same can be said of Malad in the 3A bracket, being played the University of Idaho.
Butte County is still in the hunt, and also undefeated, in the 2A tournament being played at Jerome High School.
Grace Lutheran, who earned a playoff berth via play-in, remains unbeaten in 1A at Canyon Ridge. They are joined by Rockland, who suffered a loss to Grace Lutheran Friday afternoon.
All six state champions will be determined Saturday, when the IHSAA volleyball season concludes.